Most of Walter Peters' fares do not realize he graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in psychology from Queens College. They rarely learn about his service as a marine in President John F. Kennedy's private helicopter squadron. They almost never hear he spent seven years as a member of an outlawed motorcycle gang.
He began driving in the 60’s, to support himself through college. After he married and had two sons, the steady income proved impossible to give up. Now, after nearly four decades, the 66-year-old wants to get out of the business.
"I feel too old for the situation that I'm in," he said. "I should have choices that other people I know are making. I haven't got that degree of independence."
His health and the faltering economy may force his hand. No longer physically able to spend 10 or 12 hours a day driving, he can now only manage six or seven hour shifts. The economic downturn has cut into his corporate client base, some nights there are not enough fares for each driver to get even one. He feels increasingly burdened with $75,000 left on his mortgage and $12,000 in other debts. As Peters reaches an age when he would like to be able to work less and enjoy the remainder of his life comfortably, his options are narrowing.
Secret agent games
Meetings with our main character, Walter Peters, or Pete, feel like outtakes from a bad spy thriller. Trying to meet him consists of waiting around while agreed-upon times pass without any word. If we do meet, we jump into his car to chat while he waits for a job. Even getting him on the phone can be a struggle. But once you’ve got him, he will talk for hours, following tangents here and there. I want him to stay on topic, but I am torn. He is letting us have an uncomfortably close look at his life. Doesn’t that entitle him to 15 minutes of the topics of his choosing?
Pete’s epic poem
Pete likes to talk about his writing. Over several years, he wrote a poem in installments, based on a cartoon of a heron and a frog. In it, the heron is trying to swallow a frog, but the frog reaches up to strangle the heron. The caption reads, “Never give up.”
Pete’s poem chronicles the frog’s life after escaping from the heron’s beak. But then Pete got tired of the frog’s story. Instead of sending him to a quiet retreat in the woods, or marrying him off, Pete killed the frog. This seemed drastic to me.
—Kyla Calvert
Peters just started getting a monthly Social Security check for $1,034, That payment combined with his $230-a-month Disabled Veterans Pension largely covers his mortgage payment of $1,294. He always had health insurance after being discharge from the military due to a foot injury means and he is now eligible for Medicare. All other expenses such as food, bills and gas must be covered by his decreasing car-service income.
Just three months ago Peters was earning around $600 a month from driving before gas costs, but believes his income has been cut by a third in recent weeks. He is trying to make his money stretch further [link to audio slideshow] and looking for additional sources of income. Despite discomfort with taking money from family, Peters may accept payments from his brother-in-law for helping fix up his Long Island home.
It was not meant to be this way. Melissa Biermann, 21, has known Peters most of her life through her grandmother, and is perplexed by how his life has turned out. "He's very intelligent – he has an IQ of something like 163. I've always wondered why he didn't apply it. With that IQ he probably could've done more. I think he gets discouraged easily," she said.
Peters thinks his life has unfolded according to circumstance. He married his ex-wife Eileen in 1968 and had two sons by 1972. The family was soon dependent on his steady income from driving and he could not take the risk of changing careers. He switched to driving trucks for 10 years to earn better money, before returning to cabs when he got divorced in 1981.
